We are excited to announce the launch of a new experience for New England Patriots fans on MassLive.com. We're bringing real-time news, stats, and commentary together with the best sports fans in the country to talk, debate, argue and share the energy that makes the experience of being a sports fan in New England world-class.

The improved design brings Patriots news and fans together in one place, integrating passionate community members from our forums, comments and our own reporting staff. New features will connect you with other fans and The Republican & MassLive.com writers like never before. Start your own conversations, engage with our sports reporters and bring your game day emotion and enthusiasm!

We invite you to read on and explore some of the new features that are available for Patriots fans. Ask us questions about the new experience in the comments.

More team news, as it breaks

We know you have an insatiable appetite for Patriots news, and the Top Posts stream on MassLive.com/Patriots is where you can get your fill. In addition to the game recaps, in-depth reports and team news that you're used to finding on MassLive.com, you'll have access to more real-time information than ever before. The Top Posts stream includes:

• The best Patriots stories being posted by The Republican & MassLive.com writers

• Quick updates from reporters posting from the press box, the locker room and anywhere else news is breaking

• Standout MassLive.com fan posts

This is a real-time experience, so new posts will appear immediately without you having to refresh the page. Simply click "More" when you get to the end of the stream to see another 20 posts.

A closer connection to the experts

Looking for even more team news and commentary from beat reporter Nick Underhill? Go directly to the most recent Patriots posts by viewing the Reporters stream.

The new Patriots page is a social experience, bringing you closer to our writers as they participate in conversation with the Patriots community on MassLive.com. Reply to a reporter's post to engage them or create an outstanding fan post and soon The Republican & MassLive.com writers could be commenting on it.

Patriots fans: Unite, post, respond

The new Patriots experience is, first and foremost, a space for fans. So, we invite you to participate as we continue to expand the lively Patriots community on MassLive.com.

Start by contributing your voice: post in the Fans stream, where you can laugh, cry, gripe, and celebrate with other Pats fans. Share links that are discussion starters. Post YouTube videos or photos from sites like Flickr.

Don't stop there. You can also reply to any posts from reporters or fans as well as cheer posts that you think deserve recognition.

The game day experience

Come to MassLive.com on game days and you'll never watch a Patriots game alone again. Discuss the action in real-time with other fans using the game day chat (you'll see an alert at the top of the Patriots page when the chat is active), get live updates from the scoreboard box on the right side of the page and find real-time posts in the Reporters stream.

You can also get standings, player stats and the team's schedule anytime in the box on the right side of the page.